Frank Fredrickson

Sigurdur Franklin Fredrickson (Sigurður Franklín Friðriksson; June 3, 1895 – May 28, 1979)[2] was an Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player and aviator. As a player and coach, he was significant to both the amateur and professional ice hockey as it evolved in North America in the early 20th century.[3] Fredrickson's career was interrupted by military service during the First World War and prematurely ended by a knee injury in 1931.[4]

Frank Fredrickson
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1958
Frank Fredrickson representing Canada at the 1920 Summer Olympics.
Born (1895-06-03)June 3, 1895
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died May 28, 1979(1979-05-28) (aged 83)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1]
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Detroit Falcons (NHL)
Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL)
Boston Bruins (NHL)
Detroit Cougars (NHL)
Victoria Cougars (WCHL)
Victoria Cougars (PCHA)
Victoria Aristocrats (PCHA)
National team  Canada
Playing career 1913–1932
Medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Representing  Canada
Gold medal – first place 1920 Antwerp Team competition
Fredrickson with the Victoria Cougars.

Fredrickson was the center for the Winnipeg Falcons, the Canadian team which won the Olympic gold medal in 1920. Fredrickson then joined the Victoria Aristocrats/Victoria Cougars and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 1925. On both occasions he was a teammate of fellow Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey star Haldor Halderson, making them the first players to win an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup.[5]

Fredrickson became one of the pioneers of flight in Iceland when he arrived there in 1920 to fly for the countries first airline, Flugfélag Íslands.[6][7]

The Icelandic spelling of his last name is Friðriksson and the alternate English spelling Frederickson.[8]

Early life

Fredrickson was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba as Sigurður Franklín Friðriksson, to Icelandic immigrants Jón Vídalín Friðriksson and Guðlaug S. Sigurðardóttir.[8][9] He spoke Icelandic at home, and learned English when he started school.[10]

Ice hockey career

Amateur career

Fredrickson attended Kelvin Technical Institute and Central Collegiate before enrolling at the University of Manitoba law school, where he captained the hockey team. He enlisted in the 196th Battalion in February 1916 to join the First World War, but soon transferred to the 223rd Battalion, and by May 1917 was in Europe.[11] Prior to leaving for Europe he played for the battalion's hockey team in the Winnipeg Amateur Patriotic league, scoring 17 goals in 6 games.[12] He transferred once again to the Royal Flying Corps, and was sent to Egypt for training. While on his way back from Egypt the ship he was on, the SS Leasowe Castle, was hit by a German torpedo and sank.[13] Fredrickson was then posted to Scotland to serve as a trainer and test pilot, where he ended the war.[14]

Back in Winnipeg, Frederickson captained the Winnipeg Falcons,[15] to the 1920 Allan Cup and then to the first gold medal offered in ice hockey at the 1920 Olympics at Antwerp.[16] Following the Olympics he moved to Iceland to work for Flugfélag Íslands, the first airliner in the country, in introducing airplanes to the local population. On 25 June 1920, he became the second man to pilot a plane in Iceland, after Cecil Faber.[9] While in Iceland, he competed in track and field and set a new national record in discus.[17] In October, he moved back to Canada.[18]

Professional career

Professionally, Fredrickson played for the Victoria Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Detroit Falcons in the National Hockey League. He helped Victoria win the Stanley Cup in 1925.

Fredrickson signed a professional contract with the Victoria Aristocrats of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) in 1920, being offered C$2,500 for the season. However he initially hesitated, and missed the first 3 games of the regular season before joining the team; he made his debut on January 1, 1921.[19] Fredrickson finished the season tied with Smokey Harris for the most points in the PCHA, with 32, but as Fredrickson had more goals (20 to 15), he was credited as the league's scoring champion.[20] He finished the following season with 15 goals and 10 assists.[21]

During the 1926–27 season Frederickson's salary was reportedly $6,000, the highest in the NHL.[22]

On January 18, 1927, Fredrickson scored four goals in a single game for Boston in the Bruins' 7–3 victory over the New York Rangers. He became the second Bruin to achieve this feat. Teammate Harry Oliver had done it exactly one week before.

On December 21, 1928, Fredrickson was traded from the Boston Bruins to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Mickey MacKay. When the Stanley Cup was redone during the 1957–58 NHL season his name was engraved, contrary to NHL rules, on the Cup with the 1929 Bruins. Fredrickson was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates the day Boston won the Cup. This made him ineligible to be on the cup with Boston.

Fredrickson coached hockey and lacrosse after his retirement. He coached the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 1929–1930 season, when he also played 9 games, but the team went 5-36-3 and moved to Philadelphia the next season before folding. In 1933, Fredrickson was named coach of the Princeton University ice hockey team.[23] While at Princeton he befriended Albert Einstein, who was working as a professor there; the two shared an interest in the violin.[22] Fredrickson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958[1] and is also a member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

Playing style

"... Freddie was a bit nervous at the start, and was cut across the legs by the hot Skinner, who drew a penalty. In the second period Freddie got his legs, and in the final session he was a perfect marvel. His skating, stickhandling and dazzling speed as well as his terrific shot made him a most dangerous man. Vancouver tried to box him, but he was too fast, and was continually on top of Lehman."

Victoria Daily Times describing Fredrickson's first professional game with the Victoria Aristocrats on January 1, 1921.[24]

Fredrickson was a natural centre forward, a left-hand shot, and with all the valuable traits of a franchise pivot man: skating, speed, stick-handling, size and a terrific shot.

When Fredrickson made his long-awaited professional debut in the PCHA with the Victoria Aristocrats against the Vancouver Millionaires on New Year's Day 1921 he was already 25 years old and an Allan Cup and Olympic champion, and the anticipations among the home fans in Victoria were sky high, although there were also some doubters who wondered if he could star in the PCHA circuit. Fredrickson did not let anyone down, when he was finally let on by coach Lester Patrick after 10 minutes of play, after he had shaken off his last nerves. During the last period of the game Fredrickson had one goal and two assists when Victoria turned the game around and won 5 goals to 3, with the local newspaper Victoria Daily Times hailing him as the new "Babe Ruth of hockey" and claiming that "he showed everything and lacked nothing."[24]

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1913–14 Winnipeg Falcons MHL-Sr. 11137200 —————
1914–15 Winnipeg Falcons MHL-Sr. 8105150 11010
1915–16 Winnipeg Falcons MHL-Sr. 61331614 —————
1916–17 Winnipeg 223rd Battalion MHL-Sr. 81732040 —————
1919–20 Winnipeg Falcons MHL-Sr. 102352812 6205252
1920–21 Victoria Aristocrats PCHA 212012323 —————
1921–22 Victoria Aristocrats PCHA 2415102526 —————
1922–23 Victoria Cougars PCHA 3039165526 22024
1923–24 Victoria Cougars PCHA 301982728 —————
1924–25 Victoria Cougars WCHL 282283043 43142
1924–25 Victoria Cougars St-Cup ————— 43256
1925–26 Victoria Cougars WHL 301682489 42136
1925–26 Victoria Cougars St-Cup ————— 411210
1926–27 Detroit Cougars NHL 16461012 —————
1926–27 Boston Bruins NHL 281472133 822420
1927–28 Boston Bruins NHL 411041483 20114
1928–29 Boston Bruins NHL 1231424 —————
1928–29 Pittsburgh Pirates NHL 31371028 —————
1929–30 Pittsburgh Pirates NHL 9471120 —————
1930–31 Detroit Falcons NHL 241236 —————
1930–31 Detroit Olympics IHL 60112 —————
PCHA totals 105934613983 22024
WCHL/WHL totals 58381654132 85278
NHL totals 161393473206 1023524
  • All statistics taken from NHL.com[25]

Coaching record
TeamYearRegular seasonPost season
GWLTPtsDivision rankResult
Pittsburgh Pirates 1929–30 44536313 5th in American Missed playoffs
Princeton University 1933–34 171070– – –
Princeton University 1934–35 165110– – –

Awards and achievements
Fredrickson (far left in the back row, right behind the lady) with the Winnipeg Falcons en route to the 1920 Olympics.

Personal life

Fredrickson was married to Beatrice Stefánsdóttir who was also of Icelandic-Canadian descent.[26]

References
  1. Hockey Hall of Fame 2003, p. 28.
  2. "Frank Fredrickson". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  3. "Frank Fredrickson Biography". legendsofhockety.net. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  4. "Frank Fredrickson Biography". Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  5. "Winnipeg Falcons, who became 1st Olympic hockey champs 100 years ago, to be celebrated at Gimli's Ice Fest". CBC. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  6. "Hann varð ekki hetja". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 3 September 1959. p. 8. Retrieved 28 November 2022 – via Tímarit.is.open access
  7. "Var einna fyrstur til að fljúga hér". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 5 August 1959. p. 11. Retrieved 28 November 2022 – via Tímarit.is.open access
  8. "Winnipeg Falcons - Military Biographies". Icelandic Veteran's Database (in Icelandic). 1923. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  9. "Í guðanna bænum lentu heldur á sjónum". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 4 September 1969. p. 2. Retrieved 28 November 2022 – via Tímarit.is.open access
  10. MacLeod 2018, p. 112
  11. MacLeod 2018, p. 113
  12. MacLeod 2021, pp. 137–138
  13. MacLeod 2018, pp. 113–114
  14. MacLeod 2018, p. 114
  15. "Spalding, as reproduced on Winnipeg falcons.com". Spalding's Athletic Library. 1919. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  16. "Winners in first Olympic ice hockey tournament" Victoria Daily Times, April 28, 1920 (p. 10). Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  17. "Kringlukast með betri hendi". Þróttur (in Icelandic). 1 December 2021. p. 88. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  18. "Úr borginni". Lögberg (in Icelandic). 21 October 1920. p. 8. Retrieved 28 November 2022 – via Tímarit.is.open access
  19. MacLeod 2021, pp. 139–140
  20. MacLeod 2021, p. 153
  21. MacLeod 2021, p. 167
  22. MacLeod 2018, p. 118
  23. "Tigers Here Saturday". The Baltimore Sun. December 31, 1933. p. 11.
  24. "Frederickson Will Be Babe Ruth of the P.C.H.A.", Victoria Daily Times. Jan. 3, 1921 (p. 12). Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  25. NHL.com (2009). "Frank Fredrickson's NHL Profile". NHL.com. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  26. "Í næsta mánuði eru 40 ár síðan fyrst var flogið hér á landi". Þjóðviljinn (in Icelandic). 5 August 1959. pp. 3, 8. Retrieved 28 November 2022 – via Tímarit.is.open access

Bibliography
  • Sigurdur Franklin "Frank" Fredrickson at Manitoba Historical Society
  • Hockey Hall of Fame (2003). Honoured Members: Hockey Hall of Fame. Bolton, Ontario: Fenn Publishing. ISBN 1-55168-239-7.
  • MacLeod, Alan Livingstone (2021), Capitals, Aristocrats, and Cougars: Victoria's Hockey Professionals, 1911–1926, Victoria: Heritage House, ISBN 978-1-77203-373-1
  • MacLeod, Alan Livingstone (2018), From Rinks to Regiments: Hockey Hall-of-Famers and the Great War, Victoria, British Columbia: Heritage House, ISBN 978-1-77203-268-0
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